S4 to S5 Choices

Senior Phase Qualifications

The course choice process is designed to build upon the Broad General Education of years S1 to S3, providing opportunities for all our young people to develop skills and knowledge for lifelong learning and work. The senior curriculum has flexibility and choice to meet the range of needs of our learners. In addition to Nationals, Highers and Advanced Highers qualifications we are continuing to add to our curriculum through National Progression Awards. Our partnership with outside agencies facilitates a wider range of learner pathways. A number of our young people choose options offered by North East Scotland College (NESCol); some learners in S6 choose Open University YASS courses. All of these outside agency options sit alongside in-school course provision.

S5

Fifth year offers many new challenges and responsibilities and can be a very rewarding year. Learners in fifth year will be given much greater responsibility for their education than before. This can be demanding and, although teachers will help as much as they can, learners will only be successful if they demonstrate an ongoing personal commitment to learning. This begins by making a sensible selection from the wide range of courses described in this booklet. In the school we will be looking for our young people to respond to their chosen courses with lots of effort, with initiative and enthusiasm – in short with a mature attitude, which will prepare them for whatever comes after this year in school.

Learners will generally take five courses in S5; any change from this will be appropriate to the learner’s unique needs.

Useful sites for additional information:

https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/41285.html - SQA website providing information on the range of qualifications offered

https://www.nescol.ac.uk/students/new-applicants/school-links/ - providing information to S4 to S6 learners on school link courses

https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/ - provides national careers information

http://www.open.ac.uk/scotland/study/young-applicants-schools/what-can-i-study - Open University courses available to S6 learners

Ask your Principal Teacher Pupil Support Pastoral for more details and information on accessing pathway planning and careers advice.